Habakkuk 3

Habakkuk’s Prayer

¹A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.

²Lord, I have heard of your fame;

I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day,

in our time make them known;

in wrath remember mercy.

³God came from Teman,

the Holy One from Mount Paran.

His glory covered the heavens

and his praise filled the earth.

⁴His splendor was like the sunrise;

rays flashed from his hand,

where his power was hidden.

⁵Plague went before him;

pestilence followed his steps.

⁶He stood, and shook the earth;

he looked, and made the nations tremble.

The ancient mountains crumbled

and the age-old hills collapsed—

but he marches on forever.

⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,

the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

⁸Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?

Was your wrath against the streams?

Did you rage against the sea

when you rode your horses

and your chariots to victory?

⁹You uncovered your bow,

you called for many arrows.

You split the earth with rivers;

¹⁰the mountains saw you and writhed.

Torrents of water swept by;

the deep roared

and lifted its waves on high.

¹¹Sun and moon stood still in the heavens

at the glint of your flying arrows,

at the lightning of your flashing spear.

¹²In wrath you strode through the earth

and in anger you threshed the nations.

¹³You came out to deliver your people,

to save your anointed one.

You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,

you stripped him from head to foot.

¹⁴With his own spear you pierced his head

when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,

gloating as though about to devour

the wretched who were in hiding.

¹⁵You trampled the sea with your horses,

churning the great waters.

¹⁶I heard and my heart pounded,

my lips quivered at the sound;

decay crept into my bones,

and my legs trembled.

Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity

to come on the nation invading us.

¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹The Sovereign Lord is my strength;

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

he enables me to tread on the heights.

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.